The viability of a private four-season resort in Northern New England

Abstract

The avid New England skier is having increasing difficulty enjoying their sport. In the age of consolidation and rising costs, the New England ski industry is becoming overcrowded and less fun for the consumer. The ski industry throughout the country and particularly in New England has realized little growth over the past ten years. As a consequence small, marginal mountains have been forced to shut down with expectations of further closures in the near future. As a result, the major ski areas have expanded to accommodate as many skiers as possible, forcing thousands of New England skiers traveling north every weekend to the same overcrowded locations. Ticket lines, lift lines and cafeteria lines have grown to such uncontrollable lengths that it is unreasonable to expect more than a handful of full mountain runs on a holiday weekend at New England's larger resort areas. This thesis will study the potential for a private four-season resort in Northern New England featuring alpine skiing. This model will also incorporate other amenities such as cross-country skiing, a championship golf course, a full spa, fishing, hiking and biking trails, swimming, and tennis. High-quality second homes on the development site would also be an integral element to the club. The study will include trends in today's resorts and country clubs and will detail the cost of the development and operating expenses of this type of project. Finally, the report will present a case study of a location that may fit the needs of this club and discuss the aspects of the development at this site.